Gazal family denies slush fund claim

The well-connected Gazal family paid $10,000 a month to a Liberal slush fund in exchange for political influence as it lobbied for a lucrative shopping centre development, a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was on Wednesday investigating allegations the Gazal-controlled Gazcorp funnelled $137,000 through EightByFive, a sham company set up by former NSW minister Chris Hartcher's ex-staffer Tim Koelma.

The Gazal family's Orange Grove designer outlet centre bid had been quashed once before and had already featured in its own ICAC inquiry by 2010, when Gazcorp began making monthly payments to Mr Koelma's company.

Nabil Gazal Junior told the ICAC on Wednesday that his late father, Nabil Gazal Sr, had set up an arrangement before he died whereby Mr Koelma would provide strategic advice to Gazcorp.

"Weren't you buying influence by paying EightByFive?" counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson SC asked.

"The agreement with EightByFive was only a sham, to facilitate you being able to make payments which you knew were being channelled into the Liberal party."

"No, that's not correct," Mr Gazal replied.

Among the "Einstein moments" Mr Koelma offered was to "meet Brad Hazzard to let him know who you are", documents show.

"Did you really need to pay somebody $10,000 a month to tell you that in a planning matter, it would be a good idea to meet the shadow planning minister?" an incredulous Mr Watson asked.

"Did you say, 'Good God, man! Koelma! You're a genius! We should go and meet the planning minister - in respect of our planning application'?"

Mr Watson said Mr Koelma's other pearls of wisdom included "need to prepare supporting documents".

"I'm talking about just how facile, how useless, how worthless this advice is," he said.

"Well I disagree with that," Mr Gazal Jr replied.

"What, so you thought 'until this genius Koelma told me that, I was going to put together a half-arsed bundle of rubbish and put it up!' Inspirational stuff."

"We were very content with the advice we got from him," Mr Gazal Jnr insisted.

The inquiry heard the Gazals were connected to Mr Hartcher, Central Coast MP Chris Spence, former attorney-general Greg Smith, NSW cabinet minister Anthony Roberts and ex-police minister Mike Gallacher.

The Liberal men had all been guests aboard the Gazal family's luxury yacht, Octavian, in 2008.

Mr Watson said the payments to EightByFive helped bankroll Liberal MPs' campaigns in the lead-up to the 2011 election but resumed later that year, stopping only when Mr Koelma was forced out of Mr Hartcher's office amid Electoral Funding Authority investigations.

Later at state parliament, Labor used question time to quiz Mr Roberts on the ICAC claims.

The minister told the parliament that "at all times" he has abided by the law.

"I just wonder if the issue is that I went on a boat with friends or that I've actually got friends with which to actually go on a boat," he replied, to the laughter of his coalition colleagues.